Howl
by SimpleInsomniac
Summary: He refuses to hope, because to hope would mean leaving his heart open and vulnerable to hurt. And when it hurts, it takes everything in him just to resist the seductive promises of the dark. SasuNaru, dark-fic
1. If you could only see

1. If you could only see

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Five years ago, Uchiha Sasuke had defected to Sound. Five years ago, Uzumaki Naruto had lost his best friend. And it was also five years ago when his unhealthy obsession of the Uchiha had begun. It had started with the vigorous training – 24-hours a day, seven days a week – to get caught up to the other's skill level. Then the retrieval missions. It was only when Naruto had came back after his fifteenth failed attempt – half-dead with three broken ribs, a punctured lung, and virtually every muscle in his body fried – that his friends decided to put a stop to his self-destructive ways. The Godaime Hokage had since then banned him from taking those missions. Surprisingly, Naruto had complied with her orders.

However, the obsession did not end there. After recovering from his near-death experience, the blond had resolved to find out anything and everything about the Uchihas. In his two weeks of medical leave, he had successfully extracted every last bit of information from the central library and the citizens of Konoha. But that wasn't enough for him. To fully understand the history and secrets of the Uchiha, Naruto had made multiple visits to the Uchiha Compound to consult their vast libraries. Contrary to popular belief, the Compound was not forbidden to anyone; the simple fact was that the empty streets and ominous presence of Uchiha fans adorning the walls just intimidated everyone.

The first time he had stepped foot into the Uchiha sector of Konoha, he had been horrified at the state of disrepair the place was in. It was then that he decided to take it upon himself to bring the Compound to its former glorious state. Naruto visited the area every day without fail, rain or shine, with a bunch of his kage bunshins in tow, materials under their arms. He saved any building he could, but those structures that were on the verge of collapsing, he had no choice but to knock down. In its place, he built new houses, trying to preserve the traditional look of the rest of the sector. He repaired houses, fixed broken roofs, painted walls, planted gardens, anything to make the place livelier. The only thing he had not touched was the Uchiha Main House. That building he refused to change. The civilians had noticed what he had done, and though they were furious that the jinchuuriki was making a lot of changes in the Uchiha sector, they had no real way of stopping him as it fell under the category of shinobi affairs, and the Shinobi Council had no objection to the renovations.

Naruto was not ignorant; he knew what his friends said about him behind his back. 'He's just in denial', or 'one day, he'll realize that Uchiha will never come back'. Though there were a lot of things in this universe that Uzumaki Naruto did not understand, there were three things that he was absolutely certain of:

One, he _will_ become Hokage.

Two, he _will _protect all of his precious people.

Three, he _will _bring Uchiha Sasuke back to Konoha.

So when he heard that the youngest Uchiha had killed his master Orochimaru, and had essentially freed himself from the trap of the curse seal, he knew that it was only a matter of time before Sasuke returned to his – _their _home. But he refused to hope, because to hope would mean leaving his heart open and vulnerable to hurt. Every day, he resists the urge to run to the Hokage's office to demand new information on the last Uchiha. Every day, he resists the urge to stand by the gates of Konoha to wait for his return. Every day, he resists the urge to hope.

When the news of the defeat of Uchiha Itachi under the hands of Sasuke reached the ears of Konoha, nothing seemed to change. No one appeared happy, angry, or sad that the population of the Uchiha clan had decreased once more. The Council had been shocked, but no actions had been taken. It was like Konoha had decided to cut their losses and let go of the Uchihas. It was like no one _cared. _But for one man, it was like his prayers were finally answered. With his lifelong goal achieved, Sasuke would _have _to come back. Naruto had been under close scrutiny by his friends to gauge his reactions when the news arrived, but he had held a tight grip over his emotions, betraying none of his thoughts. He tried to act normal, because the information shouldn't have sent his body into a quivering mess and tears of happiness to come to his eyes. It was only after he had reached the safety and privacy of his home that his control snapped, causing him to scream with joy into his pillow in an effort to muffle his cries.

He knew he shouldn't have expected so much when three months had passed without a word about the last Uchiha. It was on the ninety-third day after the last news of him that Naruto finally gave in. The Godaime Hokage, caring too much for the blond to deny him much, acquiesced to his request of the retrieval of Uchiha Sasuke for the sixteenth and final time.

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**A/N: **I've disappeared for a while, but now I'm back. Updates will be sporadic, just a heads up.


	2. The beast you've made of me

2. The beast you've made of me

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Naruto was alone.

He had been separated from his team by a surprise attack, and had been flung far away with a huge gust of wind deep into the forest. It was hard for him to ignore the startling similarity to the situation of the time of the Chunin Exam and the Forest of Death, but he supressed the thought - and surfacing memories - as quickly as it came, focusing on finding his way back to his teammates.

The sharp whistle of a kunai through the air alerted him to a hostile presence. A slight shift of his shoulders let the weapon fly past him harmlessly, but he felt the chill of cold steel against his throat not one moment later. "Still the useless dobe, eh Naruto?" The detached voice behind him held the barest hints of dry amusement, as if he had already expected such and was pleased to find himself right. Naruto could never forget that voice, but the unexpectedly cold words only served to anger the blond. A quick elbow jab had himself free from the Uchiha's clutches, and he spun around just in time to block the downwards slash from Sasuke's katana with two hastily pulled out kunai.

Sasuke smirked. His sword had Naruto's two hands occupied with blocking it, while he still had one hand free. The chirping noise of electricity gathering in his hand met Naruto's ears, but he was helpless to stop it as the attack hit his upper body. Only a sudden jerk back saved his organs from being pulverized by the chidori, earning him a shallow gash down his right arm. The Uchiha watched with something almost akin to disinterest in his eyes as the blond fell to the ground, coughing up globs of blood. He scoffed, sheathing his blade, and gathered chakra to his feet to prepare for a leap for the trees. An unexpected tackle knocked him to the ground, while a 'poof' told him that the kunai through the stomach effectively 'killed' the shadow clone. He should've known that the blond would still have some cheap trick up his sleeve.

He twisted his head around and looked back, coal black eyes narrowed in annoyance. Naruto was slowly getting back up on his feet, despite the gaping hole in his chest, with a forced grin on his face. Sasuke wondered briefly if the blond knew that his pain was evident in the knotted brows.

"Get back here, teme! I'm not done yet!" He yelled.

Obviously not.

With a simple hand sign, another shadow clone was created into existence beside the blond. Between the two, a swirling ball of blue gathered in the original Naruto's hand, and with a loud battle cry the blond launched himself at Sasuke, chakra sphere leading the way. Naruto realized that he had grossly underestimated Sasuke's speed as the brunette flickered out of view, and a sharp pain blossomed in his gut.

The brunette snorted as his blade slid out of Naruto's stomach with a wet 'plop'. "What a disappointment. You never change, Naruto. Still weak as ever." A condescending sneer was thrown Naruto's way as he leapt away from the scene, leaving the blond to die on the forest floor, cold, betrayed, and utterly alone.

He didn't know how long he laid there, but he felt like it was eternity before the pain from his gut and the hole in his chest strangely receded, replaced by a light tingling feeling throughout his body, and it felt kind of soothing. It was almost as if his wounds were healing by itself, knitting flesh and tendon back together... until the tingling turned into a slight burn, which turned into a full-out raging inferno sweeping through his veins. Healed wounds? Felt like they were ripped right back open. Fucking hurt like a bitch too, in Naruto's opinion. To tell the truth, Naruto thought that the whole afternoon - was it only a few hours since his team had left out for the mission? - was like a dream, and that was downright terrifying, that your life could change so drastically in a matter of months, days, hours, minutes, seconds.

As he lay bleeding to death on the ground, unable to do more than twitch in agony, one thought kept circling in Naruto's mind. During the battle - if it could even be called that, a battle - not once had Sasuke's Sharingan been activated. And that spoke volumes about his skill level compared to the other.

And that look on Sasuke's face; it was as if he wasn't even worth the dirt on the bottom of his shoes. That look struck fear into his heart, and was permanently engraved in Naruto's mind. It was as if he was some child's toy, effortlessly holding all of a child's attention when it was brand new, and just as easily discarded when something better and newer comes around. For a moment, Naruto actually wanted to kill Sasuke for being better, being perfect, for having everything he could ever want from life - the tragic survivor of a terrible accident, a boy with the money, the looks, the intelligence, and the strength - and throwing it all away for revenge. Doesn't he know how much it hurts the people who care about him when he stabs them behind their backs and spits on everything they believe in? Naruto was tempted to learn the chidori and stab Sasuke a few times, just to show him how much pain he caused.

The horrible, bitter taste of hate and resentment bubbled up his throat. And though Naruto knew he would never act on his bloodthirsty instincts to hurt the Uchiha - unless it was for his own good - the betrayal of his friend, no matter how insignificant a thought may seem, was what scared him the most.

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**A/N: **Hope you enjoyed. Next chapter is in the process of being written.


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